NEW DUTCH GOV’T HAS NO PLANS TO ALTER EUTHANASIA

THE HAGUE, July 5, 2002 (LSN.ca) – The newly elected Dutch government, described by observers as a “sharp turn to the right,” will in all likelihood do nothing to change the notorious euthanasia and homosexual marriage laws brought in a year ago by the former leftist government.  The changes proposed so far will slightly alter the country’s liberal drug laws, banning safety tests of ecstasy narcotics at dance parties, and relocating marijuana cafes farther from schools and borders.  Other reforms will tinker with the refugee/asylum system and oblige immigrants to learn Dutch. The notorious one-fifth of Dutch citizens who receive state “disability” payments, often for simply submitting a claim that they suffer from “stress” or tiredness, may face slightly increased bureaucracy in obtaining their cheques.  But in contrast to rhetoric from some parties when in opposition, the three-party governing coalition has promised merely to “review the effectiveness” of the euthanasia law, which allows doctors to end the life of patients suffering terminal ailments; news reports that the conditions are “strict” appear ridiculous alongside the fact that perfectly healthy but “depressed” middle-aged people are using the law to kill themselves.  To read a wire story on the new government see: https://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020703/ap_to_po/netherlands_politics_4   For previous LifeSite coverage of Netherlands politics see:  https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/jan/02010204.html